Got Coverage? Health Care Reform and Nutrition Benefits

Beginning this January several parts of the Health Care Reform bill became active. The part that I'm most interested in is the preventive services that insurance companies are now required to cover. In addition to all sorts of screening and immunizations, dietary counseling for chronic disease prevention and obesity have been included in the approved preventive services.

US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsabrecs.htm

Very exciting! And very daunting. Over the past few weeks I have embarked on a long and cumbersome journey to become better educated on what this means for my role as a dietitian, how to bill these services correctly so the insurance company will reimburse me, and how can I best serve my clients with this new information.

Here is what I've found out:

A. Most customer service reps with the insurance companies have no idea what I'm asking for and I end up providing education and web links for their reference.

B. Yes, it is suppossed to be covered, however private insurance companies haven't figured out if they will or what will be covered.

C. In some cases, using the "right code" will ensure coverage. (They wouldn't tell me what the "right code" is though.)

D. According to my professional organization, my contact has confessed that "with private insurance...there is much room for interpretation at this point."

From my investigating I have come to the conclusion that we are all in the middle of a Trial and Error process. I'm resolved to play and have rolled my dice. This may require that I re-submit several claims before I find the right code.Wish me luck and send spare Tylenol or ibuprofen my way! 

HCG is Fraudulent, According to FDA

You may recognize the acronym HCG from many signs posted outside of various Naturopathic Clinics and Supplement/Vitamin Retail Stores. Proven to be effective as a treatment for infertility, there is little evidence that this drug is anything but a smoke screen when it comes to weight loss. 

 

The typical weight loss treatment protocol is to take this drug and eat less than 800 calories a day. People see weight loss and lay the claim on this "wonder drug" when the truth is that they aren't eating very much...calories in = calories out. HCG is claimed to reduce hunger, which it doesn't when looking at the randomized, controlled studies done on it. It actually works no better than the placebo when it comes to weight loss or reducing hunger levels. 

If you go to your Naturopathic Doctor (ND) for HCG, you will most likely get it injected (pill forms are metabolized in the gut that render them inactive.) I have met 2 ND's that use HCG and support the claims for weight loss. My simple math holds my skeptical brain in a biased view.

 

At the end of the day the bottom line will always be: slow, gradual, & intentional behavior change that involves weighing oneself regularly, some form of food journaling, reduction of calories, & an increase in physical activity will guarantee weight loss when recommended by your health care providers. 

If there was an easy button for this one, we wouldn't have to pay $70/ounce to attain it.

Click here for entire article:
USA Today Report

No post this week

Hi Y'all,

I'm pausing the blog posts until next weekend as I've been dealing with a family emergency. Stay tuned for a fabulous year of thought provoking posts!

Cheers,
Brandi

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2011! It's going to be a fantastic year. I can tell because the sun is shining in the middle of Seattle winter. (The sun on the weekend of the New Year is much like the ground hog is to Ground Hog's Day.)

To Be Well and Live Well this Year, I've summed up a few key points for Creating Peace with Food.

1. Que in to your body by obeying your hunger and fullness levels
2. Eat every 3-4 hours, never going more than 4 hours without eating something
3. Move Your Body-not excessively, but go for a walk, enjoy the scenery, breathe fresh air regularly
4. Pair carbohydrate choices with protein or fat choices to keep your energy levels up and stabilize your blood sugar
5. De-stress: in what ways can you build in fun and relaxation into your regular week or perhaps there is something that you need to stop doing so that you feel less stress

Zen Recipe Corner:

Huevos Rancheros per Cookus Interruptus

Stress, Pray, Eat

There is no better time to peak your stress potential than the week before Christmas! This weekend, in particular, seems overwhelming to me as my husband and I attempt to wrap up house projects before our holiday party tonight and my Mom’s arrival on Wednesday.

To help me de-compress, I stopped by our local coffee shop to steal away 15 minute of alone time on my morning dog walk. I grabbed the funnies from the paper and delighted in reading them while sipping my short rice milk latte (went for the caffeine version this morning!)

One cartoon brought tears to my eyes though. It was a family in a store with signs above each display saying “Don’t Forget Candy! Don’t Forget Lights!” Then in the last screen the family (loaded down with purchases) is walking past a church. In front of the nativity scene sprawn out on the lawn is a sign..Don’t Forget.

I remembered something I had forgotten to do for myself. Pray.

Prayer is such a powerful stress reliever. And what an amazing time of year to utilize the gifts Jesus gave us.  This simple act has been the number one coping skill that helped me push through and overcome many hard life circumstances. I use it often; although lately my heart has been in giving prayers to others. This, of course, is really great too.

On my walk back home this morning, I started piecing some recent memories together. In several different situations, the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr has popped up in front of me; twice in different books, another in a TV show, then again in a conversation.

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

   
I used this prayer a lot the year I got married but haven’t really focused on it since. Another quote that has come up time and time again over this year has been one from scripture.

“Because, of whatever you do, eating or drinking or anything else, everything should be done to bring glory to God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

Has this ever happened to you? Something sparks your memory and then different events and signs start falling into place. That is kind of where I feel I’m at today.

The power of prayer in stress management. The eating component is that myself, much like many of you, are prone to emotional eating when faced with too much stress. I often counsel my clients to go underneath that umbrella term and name the causes. For example, I feel overwhelmed by my to-do list and short time line. I feel pressure to be perfect and complete the entire list today. My tendency to deal with this is eat something chocolaty or cheesy.

However, just because that is my tendency, it does not make it a reality. So for today, I will say the serenity prayer and remember this scripture.  And say good bye to sweet cravings.

How is my story similar to yours? Has this inspired your own memories?

Zen Recipe Corner:
Healthy Holiday Brunch menu by Food Network.